Month: March 2020

10:51 AM GMT With the sports world in abeyance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now’s as good a time as any to reminisce about the good old days, when England were truly woeful, but at least the show was able to go on … Sydney 2013-14 Had England been a Norwegian Blue parrot, they would

12:51 PM GMT In the battle of the big-budgeted clubs, Nahidul Islam‘s unbeaten 53 and two wickets helped Prime Bank Cricket Club to a nine-run win over Gazi Group Cricketers at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Batting first, Prime Bank posted 251 for 6 in 50 overs with Rony Talukdar top-scoring with 79

3:38 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The final two rounds of the Plunket Shield, New Zealand’s domestic first-class competition, have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic with Wellington being named the 2019-20 champions. NZC chief executive David White said the decision had been made based on medical advice following the tightening of travel restrictions by

5:54 AM GMT As with sport around the world, Australia’s international season came to an abrupt end amid the increasing measures against coronavirus. On home soil the men’s team went unbeaten but life was tougher on the road. Here’s a recap of a season that featured Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, India and South Africa

2:19 PM GMT Toss Karachi Kings chose to bat v Quetta Gladiators Karachi Kings elected to bat against Quetta Gladiators, who face an improbable task to join the hosts in the semi-finals. With Lahore Qalandars chasing down 187 earlier in the day and making the semi-finals along with Karachi and league-leaders Multan Sultans, Quetta now

9:11 AM GMT Toss Lahore Qalandars chose to bowl v Multan Sultans Lahore Qalandars captain Sohail Akhtar won the toss and elected to field first in a pivotal match against league-leaders Multan Sultans. A win clinches a playoff spot for the Qalandars while a loss means they’ll need to sweat out the result of the

7:02 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff There’s been a few times that Lockie Ferguson had been down with a cold in the course of his career, but it was different this time. After reporting a sore throat to the New Zealand team management on Friday, he was sent for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) tests and then asked

11:02 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Stuart Broad has backed the “very tough, but necessary” decision made by the ECB to postpone England’s tour of Sri Lanka over fears about the COVID-19 pandemic. The ECB announced on Friday that the two-Test series had been postponed indefinitely, stating that “the physical and mental wellbeing of our players

7:55 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Ajinkya Rahane feels that India’s issues against the short ball are being spoken about “too much”, adding that their 2-0 Test series defeat in New Zealand came about mainly due to their opposition’s skilful use of home conditions. New Zealand’s bowlers have used the short ball liberally in recent years,

5:03 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Improving Bangladesh’s team culture will be of top priority for newly appointed Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal. The 30-year old has called for greater discipline and collective effort after taking over from Mashrafe Mortaza, whose five-year stint ended earlier this month. The BCB’s top brass had convinced Iqbal to succeed

9:50 AM GMT Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai The BCCI and the IPL franchise owners have decided to adopt a wait-and-watch approach over when and how to hold the IPL. They want to give health and safety of the players and people involved in holding the IPL priority and are likely to discuss its schedule again

11:14 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Joe Root, the England captain, says that his team’s overwhelming reaction was one of “relief” after their two-Test tour of Sri Lanka was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour’s postponement was confirmed with England midway through the second day of their final warm-up match in Colombo, ahead of

11:33 AM GMT Australia’s domestic competition, the Sheffield Shield, is expected to be cancelled before its conclusion due to the coronavirus pandemic, the first such event since the Second World War. While Cricket Australia is yet to officially announce the decision, players are understood to have been informed on Saturday night, before they travelled to

3:11 AM GMT Big Picture This series, being played behind closed doors, remains the only international cricket ongoing as coronavirus measures sweep the globe. It may be the last international cricket for a while. On the field, Australia managed to end a run of five consecutive defeats with a solid all-round display on a tricky,

9:07 AM GMT The start of IPL 2020 has been pushed back to April 15 following the global concern over the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak. The decision to postpone the tournament, which was scheduled to start on March 29, was taken by the BCCI top brass lead by its president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay

7:06 AM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando Ben Stokes has been ruled out the ongoing four-day practice match in Sri Lanka, with an abdominal strain. There is no news yet about whether his availability for the Test series is affected. “England all-rounder Ben Stokes will not be at the ground today and is having abdominal investigations,”

4:19 PM GMT Valkerie Baynes For Sophie Devine, the lesson of how a team’s success or failure in short-form cricket can hang on a single instant is still raw. So the New Zealand captain fully expects her nation’s group-stage exit at the recent Women’s T20 World Cup, shaped by narrow defeats to India and Australia,

3:15 PM GMT Despite having deferred the IPL until April 15, the tournament’s governing council will meet on Saturday in Mumbai to review the precautionary steps needed to be put in place for the marquee event to start in April. The IPL top brass will also be meeting the owners/top executives of all franchises to

1:45 PM GMT Australia captain Aaron Finch reflected on the “unique” experience of playing international cricket in an empty stadium on a dramatic day of coronavirus developments for sports in Australia and around the world. Late-night Cricket Australia talks on Thursday led to the announcement early on Friday morning that the ODI series against New

8:34 AM GMT A number of overseas cricketers, including a contingent of English players, will be flying back from the PSL because of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. Peshawar Zalmi’s Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Lewis Gregory and Carlos Brathwaite, as well as Multan Sultans’ James Vince and Karachi Kings’ Alex Hales, are among the first

10:49 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Australia’s one-day series against New Zealand will be played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic while the T20I matches at the end of the month in New Zealand are in doubt. A few hours previously it had been confirmed that the Australia Women’s tour of South Africa would

12:38 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The three-match ODI series between India and South Africa has been called off in response to fears about the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. The decision follows the move by the BCCI earlier on Friday to defer the IPL by around a fortnight, and amid similar decisions regarding other cricket tours

10:49 AM GMT England’s Test tour against Sri Lanka has been called off due to the growing threat of the the COVID-19 pandemic. The news came while England were midway through their final four-day warm-up match, ahead of the two-Test series which had been scheduled to get underway in Galle on March 19. Play continued

3:17 AM GMT Toss Australia elected to bat v New Zealand At an empty SCG, Aaron Finch decided to bat first as the immediate future of sporting events in Australia looked increasingly doubtful due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have returned after missing the last ODI in South Africa while Mitchell

3:31 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Kane Richardson will miss the first ODI against New Zealand at the SCG having been tested for COVID-19 after reporting a mild sore throat to Australia’s medical team yesterday. Richardson, who returned from South Africa earlier this week with the rest of the ODI squad, has been quarantined for the

9:56 AM GMT It is now a strong possibility that IPL 2020 will take place behind closed doors, in light of the coronavirus threat, with the Indian government indicating it will not stop sporting events from taking place as long as they adhere strictly to health-ministry guidelines discouraging mass gatherings. On Wednesday, the World Health